Who did daniel chester french use as his model for the statue
"America" at the Us Customs Building in Manhattan.  I was told her
name was Violet Blossom Conrad but I can find no reference to her.  I
was also told she was the model  used by a famous poster artist of the
era and she was called the "angel face" or something like that.  She
was born in the Dakota Territory and married someone named Ellicott.

Dear beckyjane721,

I just read the comments. When I noticed that you were unhappy with my
original answer I had asked the editors to remove it, but now I'm glad
to know that I could help you.

Regards,
Scriptor

FYI:  The customer ruled out Audrey Munson (though there is some
evidence suggesting that she was indeed the model in question).

Interesting character; tragic life though: Audrey Munson's stellar
career as a movie star and model was eventually ruined by a murder she
did not commit. Already said to be a fragile minded woman, she
reportedly went mad at the age of 39 and was confined to an
institution for the mentally insane. She died there in 1996 at the age
of 105 after more than 65 years of confinement.

tutuzdad-ga

My name is Barry Popik, and I've contributed to the Audrey Munson
Wikipedia page. (My NY Times article on 4-15-1996 rediscovered her.)
Munson definitely posed for Daniel Chester French's "America." For her
American Weekly "Queen of the Studios" bio in 1922, Munson describes
the posing in detail. There are even pictures of her in the casts!
  
Daniel Chester French used Miss Munson as a model for many sculptures,
including "Memory" in the Metropolitan Museum and "Miss Manhattan" and
"Miss Brooklyn" in front of the Brooklyn Museum of Art (formerly at
the Manhattan Bridge).

Vindication for Tutuzdad! :)

Hi all-
I appreciate all of the input and am more than happy to pay tutuzdad
the $5.00 if indeed Munson was the model. The reason I rejected this
was because while visiting Chesterwood - the home of Daniel Chester
French in the Berkshires - I met a woman on our little house tour who
said that her grandmother was the model for "America".  She gave a
great deal of detail about this person and the alleged granddaughter
did not appear to be in the least bit delusional.  In any case
assuming that the model was Audrey Munson, do any of you know anything
about someone whose name was Violet Blossom Conrad (?Spelling), who I
was told was also a popular poster model of the time and had a moniker
that included the word "angel", who was later married to a man named
Ellicott who put a stop to her modeling career.  I find it hard to
believe this woman fabricated the entire story out of whole cloth
although it may be is family legend that she is the model for
"America".  Any input welcome.
Thank you.

Violet Blossom Conrad did indeed marry Charles Ellicott in 1907. She
was called "Angel Face." However, there is no information in the
newspaper databases that she posed for Daniel Chester French's
"America."

I was just going through my papers. The April 3, 1921 Hearst American
Weekly (NY AMERICAN and other Hearst newspapers) "Queen of the
Artists' Studios," Chapter XIII, has the photos. Captions include:
...
The frieze of heroic statues around the New York Custom House, made by
the noted sculptor Daniel French. For all the reminine figures in this
group, Miss Munson was the model. Each group represents a nation.
...
A view of the whole Customs House building, showing the more important
statues on their street pedestals. Miss Munson was the model for each
of the feminine figures in these, also. A photograph of the group
marked A is reporduced at the right. This is "America," one of the
most beautiful and majestic of the marble groups.

THank you to bapopik for all of this detail and for the information on
Violet Blossom Conrad.  I was able to find some references to her
marriage to Ellicott in the archives of the Washington Post, but no
other references in the New York Times, etc. about her life or career.
 Anyway it seems pretty definitive to me that Munson was the model and
that it appears that the granddaughter's report that her grandmother
served as the model for America is a family myth.  Is there a way now
that I can compensate tutuzdad?  I rejected his initial answer because
I had found the information on Munson in a google search but no
reference directly to her modeling for America.  Since he/she was
right to begin with - I feel it only fair to pay what I bid for the
answer, but am brand new to google answers and am not even sure if it
is possible to communicate with someone directly or whether all
communications have to be sent through the comment section of the
original question.  Thank you again to bapopik.

Beckyjane,
You can just hope that Tutuzdad comes back and posts his answer, but
you've got your heart in the right place, and that counts for a lot
here too.
And it is a real treat to get the word the source, Barry, thanks.

So D. C. French use Audrey as his model for all the continents, that
avoided any racial problems  - at least back then.  If anyone is
interested, here is a great site that shows them all and also links at
the end of page to a site with many more pictures of French's work,
including several more that were and could have been modeled for by
Audrey Munson:

http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/dc_french/continents/dcfrench_continents.html

She was the woman for whom the word statuesque could have been coined,
as one could see on a link from Tutuz's lost answer.  French probably
felt like the man in "South Pacific":  "Once you have found her, never
let her go."
Pity about her later life. 

Thank you, Becky, for a very interesting quesion.
Myoarin

There are few myths in our family and the fact that Violet Blossom
Conrad has little written about her post 1907 is that CR Ellicott said
she "would pose no more". But to take away her most enduring pose and
discredit the fact with such authority leaves me slightly taken aback.
Check out an article from The World Magazine December 31st, 1905 where
Mr. French states he found his ideal image in "the girl with the angel
face" for his America. I can send a copy to any or all and I am just
getting some news items of the day together for the French Musem at
Chesterwood as I promised. No, I do not think I am delusional and
though Blossom posed no more, her life before and after her modeling
days was one filled with adventure, motherhood and, perhaps, she
proved to be one of the most unconventional grandmothers one could
hope to have.

Remember too that though the Customs House opened in 1908 the
sculpture were planned and posed for considerably earlier, around 1905
by our calculations which would make "Blossom" 20 years old and by
accounts posted here, Audrey would have been 14 (which makes her quite
young at the time).

There is so much more I'd like to share about her but perhaps you
should all wait for my book which will be filled with this and so much
more.

Terri Clark, grandaughter of Violet Blossom Conrad and Charles Ridgley Ellicott
ps I enjoyed very much meeting the people on the house tour at Chesterwood.

I'd like to take credit but I can't. It was Scriptor-ga who posted
Munson as the likley model.

tutuzdad-ga

My comments are not intended to discredit Audrey Munson in any way but
to take "likely" model and support as a truth is not going to cut it.
"America" was fashioned after "The Girl with the Angel Face" who never
sought to be a model but was sought out by painters and sculptors
after she made her debut in Washington D.C. She is quoted in the World
Magazine article of December 31st, 1905 as saying if nothing else,
being the model for "America" will leave something tangible that she
would be remembered by. Her children and grandchildren would remember
and make the pilgrimage to the steps of the Alexander Hamilton Customs
House when ever in Manhatten. For those of us who knew the classic
beauty of this woman, even in old age, there was little doubt who
"America" was fashioned from.

Terri,
Your argument about Audrey Munson's age really takes her out of the
running for the Custom House statues, despite the talk about her being
model for all those statues.  Barry Popik's website (easy to find with
his name) posts his article on Munson far down on the list of articles
about Big Apple.  With hindsight about her age, however, his
information is not very convincing.  Maybe after your grandmother
married, it was considered more tactful not to mention her modelling
career, and someone later suggested that Audrey  - by then omnipresent
-  had modelled for all those statues too, perhaps with French's
support of the subterfuge.

All very interesting.
Myoarin

I think the authorities at Chesterfield, the museum at Chester's
Berkshire country home, were not clear on all of the models and were
thrilled to get the information from our side re at least one of them-
If I were making assumptions, which I will not, I would say both
statues on the front of the building are Violet Blosssom Conrad as
they look so much like her- one with her hair pulled back in a knot
and the other with hair piled on her head- but I have nothing in
writing that would support this.